What Is The Day of the Jackal Based On? Peacock Thriller’s 1970s Roots Explained
It's a dash of history with a lot of fiction layered on top.
Somewhere in the world, there is an exceptional assassin, a mysterious and deadly specter. He always works alone, he never looks the same, and he never uses his real name. He emerges from the shadows to do his bloody work, and disappears just as quickly, but not if British intelligence can help it. That’s the setup for Peacock’s upcoming thriller series The Day of the Jackal, starring Lashana Lynch, Úrsula Corberó, and Eddie Redmayne as the titular Jackal.
The Day of the Jackal is based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name, which itself is loosely based on historical fact. The book received the 1972 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, and was adapted to film in 1973. Peacock’s new mystery thriller reimagines the story, following a British intelligence officer (Lynch) trying to find and stop the Jackal (Redmayne) before he strikes again.
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The book and real events that inspired Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal
Forsyth’s novel begins with the historically accurate assassination attempt on French President Charles de Gaulle. This assassination attempt actually happened in the real world, but the rest of the events portrayed in the book did not.
In the early 1960s, France and Algeria were engaged in the Algerian War, a conflict over whether Algeria should remain a French territory or be recognized as its own nation. When President de Gaulle officially recognized the sovereignty of Algeria, some members of the military didn’t take the news kindly, least of all Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, a lieutenant colonel in the French Air Force.
At the time, a far-right French dissident terrorist group called the OAS (Secret Army Organization) was engaged in various terrorist acts, violently demonstrating their opposition to Algerian independence. Bastien-Thiry collaborated with the OAS in what became known as the Petit-Clamart attack, an attempt to assassinate President de Gaulle.
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Bastien-Thiry recruited a group of three shooters and met them in Petit-Clamart, a suburb of Paris. He established himself as the lookout and sent the shooters into a shopping district where de Gaulle and his family were seated in their car. The three of them peppered de Gaulle’s car and nearby shops with machine-gun fire, most of which missed their targets. No one was killed and only one person was injured, caught in the crossfire. In the aftermath, 14 bullet holes were found in de Gaullle’s car, in addition to two punctured tires. The positioning of some of the bullet holes suggests that de Gaulle narrowly avoided death that day.
Bastien-Thiry was captured, tried, and convicted. He claimed that de Gaulle was a tyrant as justification for his crime, and was executed by firing squad. All of that is true, but that’s where Forsyth’s tale departs from reality.
How to Watch The Day of The Jackal on Peacock
After the assassination attempt, the French security forces hunt down the OAS and infiltrate their organization. Unable to effectively carry out any of their plots, the OAS outsources the violent work to a professional assassin known only as the Jackal.
We’ve left the realm of historical fact and entered a world of murderous make believe. The Jackal’s story remains a mystery, but it’s one you can unravel right now with The Day of the Jackal's five, streaming exclusively on Peacock. Weekly episodes will then follow every week until the double-episode finale Thursday, December 12.
